A Marquee Wedding on the Family Farm: Siobháin & Ed

Here at One Fab Day, we’re so lucky to share some incredible backyard weddings - usually from America. But more and more Irish couples are starting to opt in for a DIY wedding at home. A marquee wedding is a feat of logistics, from sorting furniture and catering, to building a bar and a weather-proof plan. But Siobháin and Ed’s stylish real wedding on the groom’s family farm in Kilkenny, will show us how it's done. You can tell the bride is an event planner, not only was this day fun and gorgeous, but the couple left no detail untouched, from the handmade furniture to the carefully curated drinks menu (and that's only for starters!). Monika from Beau and Pastel was there to capture all thoughtful details and glamorous style - FYI, you're going to want to have your 'Pin It' button ready for this one...

The bride tribe!

You can already tell this wedding dress is a special one!

Siobháin & Ed met through work in Dublin, as the bride tells us, "I was working in marketing and events on one side of the business and Ed was working in the bar whilst finishing his Masters. I don't think we’ll ever settle the great debate of who was whose boss!”

Siobháin tells us that she fell for Ed straight away, and that romance blossomed quickly, “We had our first date at the Dublin institution that is Dun Laoghaire pier. After his Masters, Ed took a role in the UK and following a series of Ryanair flights, I decided to make the move too and the rest is history.”

It seems one of Dublin’s most iconic locations played an important role in Siobháin and Ed’s story, “After a number of failed attempts to get me to Dun Laoghaire pier while home from the UK at Christmas, Ed finally got me there during Storm Desmond and got down on one knee proposing with an antique token ring where we had our first date. Given the weather we didn't linger there too long!”

Siobháin says she left finding her wedding dress until quite late in the day, "I found a really simple dress by Badgley Mischka at Covet. With a few weeks to go, I felt the dress needed something and found Gibson Bespoke who could create a custom watteau veil.”

Siobháin says Debbie at Gibson Bespoke went above and beyond in creating exactly what she wanted, “Following a bereavement in her family the week of my wedding, I assumed that I would be without and had looked to borrow a veil, but Debbie went out of her way to complete and it arrived two days before the wedding. I can’t say enough about Debbie and the piece was beautiful.” It really does give the gown a feel of drama and glamour.

Bright pink shoes add the perfect pop of colour to the bridesmaids' white ensembles. And I can see why Siobháin and Ed chose to get married here - just look at that fairytale cottage!

The bouquets were filled with lush foliage of varying shades and shapes which made them simple, but interesting.

When asked if he could sum up the feel of the wedding, Ed concluded, “The vibe of the day was thoughtful and relaxed.”

The wedding stationery was a foxy (sorry, I had to!) nod to the countryside surroundings.

The couple say that despite all their attention to detail, it was important not to lose sight of the bigger picture, “Things will go wrong. We had really wanted a stress-free run-up to the day but torrential rain, missing wedding rings, a huge stain on my dress and marriage certificate dramas didn’t allow for this. Make sure to put everything to one side as the day itself will be perfect no matter what happens.”

Having their wedding at home means the place has even more memories for the couple, “It's really special to look out into the Old Garden now that the wedding has passed with the cows grazing in there peacefully.”

The couple say all that everything at the wedding was made or chosen by them with their friends and family in mind, "A couple of months prior, the farm was waterlogged and cows had been grazing in this now amazing space! The transformation was really special and we couldn't have done it without countless hours by Ed’s family on the farm. The cows are back in now, with a few extra herbs to chew on.”

How amazing is the horsebox bar?! “We converted an old horsebox into a bar and filled it with our favourite tipples including home brewed sloe gin, blackberry gin and sloe whisky. My brother David brought all the fizz and wine from France and my brother Ger provided a pretty epic craft beer bar. The horsebox paired with a Brazilian mixologist called Orlando equated to a great night and quite a few sore heads!”

Siobháin loved how everyone got into the spirit of their day, “Guests literally kicked off their heels (farms are not made for heels no matter what improvements you make!) and enjoyed delicious food, great cocktails, contagious laughter during our speeches and danced the night away in a field lit up by fairy lights and lanterns.”

Throwing a good party and showing their guests having a great time was the biggest priority for Siobháin & Ed, “Food was hugely important to us and I knew from the first time we met Julianne at Blacksheep Foods we had found our perfect match, she spent so long finding out exactly what we wanted and she and her team delivered beyond our expectations. The cows became her biggest fans and stared into the catering tent all day from the other side of the fence.”

By forgoing a designated wedding venue, you're taking on a lot of work to ensure your location is suitable for guests. Siobháin and Ed's farm wedding is a testament to how it's all worth it though! Siobháin’s experience in event planning allowed her to transform a simple country farmyard into a luxe wedding venue with cool cocktails, beautifully presented food and some good tunes.

The couple say it was special to continue the family tradition of a wedding at home, “The house is dated 1860 so there had been a number of Hogan family weddings at the house through the years and it was lovely to continue this tradition and get married in the Old Garden. With a marquee wedding, you are literally starting from scratch so you really have the opportunity to put your personality into it and as an event manager this was really important to me.”

Siobháin said she'd highly recommend having some second day festivities, “Day Two is a great way to catch up with everyone properly. Maid of honour, Danielle, and I did the catering and then enjoyed a really lovely evening. The rain was back at this stage so the last few standing ended up stranded in the tent until the storm passed after 3am - not necessarily a hardship with the bar at hand!” Now that sounds like fun!

Siobháin says her and Ed's friends and family were a great help in the lead up to the wedding, "Our sis-in-law Tina drove the length and breadth of Ireland to track down a couple hundred metres of grey material after we had furniture delivery issues. My other sister-in-law Helen was like my personal Pinterest board. Ed’s uncle Paddy literally worked for three days solid kitting out our electrical needs, our sister-in-law Danielle made the most amazing cakes based on our favourite flavours (including raspberry and pistachio- yum!)”.

And that wasn't all, "My brothers stocked a bar that would please any palate and Ed’s Dad, brothers and brothers literally transformed a field in torrential rain while still smiling. We had sun on the day which was made all the sweeter because of this weather. My nieces and nephews provided all the cuteness that was needed. Our bridal party were the dream team.”

The couple adorned their day with as many personal touches from the farm as possible, “We made seating out of tree trunks, converted a horsebox into a bar, planted a herb garden, infused our own gins with fruits from the farm and even made flavoured butters and chutney for the meal.” I just love all the thought and work that went into this wedding - and doesn't the Maverick Marquees tent look incredible!

I don't know about you, but this bohemian tipi has just been added to the list of DIYs I'm insisting on for my future wedding (and possibly house... You know, just for everyday lounging..?).

Why have one cake when you can have three?!

Blacksheep Foods did the most amazing job at creating rustic platters for guests to dig into and pass around between them- helping conversation flow.

After seeing how talented Siobháin and Ed are when it comes to wedding planning, we just had to pick their brains for some advice. Of course they had a few nuggets for us, “Everyone will suddenly become a wedding expert and give you their opinion, stick with your vision which is true to you as a couple! Choose suppliers that you click with - it will make all the difference. We planned most of the wedding from the UK due to work commitments, so it was really important to have suppliers who get you. Our photographer Monika was so much fun and has us smiling and our videographer was so chilled.”

“Specific to a wedding at home, have a realistic budget as costs you wouldn't necessarily associate with your wedding pop up everywhere and add up very quickly (loos, kitchen equipment, furniture, heating etc.).” And the final piece of advice from Siobhain? “Cliché, but take a minute every now and then to just take in the day.”

Siobháin brought over her fave UK band for the celebration, "I use a band called Ruby and the Rhythms in the UK for my events and they came over for the night, the dancefloor was full all night and the band got to experience their first Irish wedding! We looked around a few times and the tent was filled with lots of love and laughter so we were so happy.”

As the wedding planning began to intensify, the Siobháin & Ed realised that there's a reason why couples traditionally honeymoon right after the wedding, “We intended on waiting to go on honeymoon but decided a much-needed break was in order, so we booked a very last minute break in Phuket, Thailand.”

Huge thank you to Monika from Beau and Pastel for sending us such a beautiful wedding. With creative eyes like theirs, we have no doubt but that Siobháin & Ed have an exciting future in store!